Witness Describes “Unlawful” Bosnian Serb Orders

Friday, 22 October, 2010

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Rachel Irwin

Senior Reporter

Radovan Karadzic’s army issued illegal orders and fired on United Nations troops during the 44-month siege of Sarajevo, a Canadian general told judges at the Hague tribunal this week.

Prosecuting lawyer Alan Tieger showed witness David Fraser a Bosnian Serb army order which stated that “following an oral order of the main staff command … you are to fire at the centre of deployed [UN] forces”.

Tieger said the November 1994 order was issued by Dragomir Milosevic, the general who commanded the Sarajevo Romanija Corps of the Bosnian Serb army during the second half of the war.

Tribunal judges have sentenced Milosevic to 29 years in prison for his role in the shelling and sniping of Sarajevo, which left nearly 12,000 people dead.

“This document is consistent with our assessment during the time I was there,” said Fraser, who was the military assistant of the commander of the United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR, in Sarajevo from April 1994 to May 1995. He has previously testified in two other trials at the tribunal.

“…This [order] was a direct contravention of the rules,” Fraser continued. “The corp commander is directing troops to fire on the UN when we were not at war with Serbian forces….quite frankly it disgusts me.”

Prosecutors allege that Karadzic, the president of Bosnia's self-declared Republika Srpska from 1992 to 1996, planned and oversaw the siege of Sarajevo. Karadzic’s army is accused of deliberately sniping and shelling the city’s civilian population in order to “spread terror” among them.

The indictment - which lists 11 counts in total - alleges that Karadzic was responsible for crimes of genocide, persecution, extermination, murder and forcible transfer which “contributed to achieving the objective of the permanent removal of Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from Bosnian Serb-claimed territory”. He was arrested in Belgrade in July 2008 after 13 years on the run.

Tieger presented the witness with another Bosnian Serb army order from April 1995, which specified that an aerial bomb was to be launched in the Hrasnica area “where the most casualties and material damage would be inflicted”.

“Is that an order that would be issued by you, or [one] you would permit to be issued?” Tieger asked.

“This is a manifestly unlawful order and as a recipient of this order, I would not abide by it,” Fraser answered.

“What if there was a unit of the Bosnian Muslim army [in the area]?” Tieger asked. “Would that change the illegal nature of launching an air bomb?”

“An air bomb is completely inappropriate to fire at a military target in an area as densely populated as this town,” Fraser answered.

He said that aerial bombs had “no military value in an urban area” and would have an “indiscriminate” effect on civilians and infrastructure.

“In your assessment, what level of command would have … to authorise or ratify the use of air bombs in Sarajevo?” Tieger asked.

“My assessment was that the commander of the [Sarajevo Romanija Corps] had direct control of the use of sniping and shelling in and around Sarajevo,” Fraser said.

As for sniping at civilians, Fraser told Tieger that while both the Bosnian Serb army and the Bosnian government army took part in this activity, it was mainly done by the Bosnian Serb side. He said the large number of civilian targets prompted the establishment on an anti-sniping task force, which became “very familiar” with sniper positions on both sides.

“What was the level of certainty that Bosnian Serb forces were engaged in ongoing sniping attacks against civilians?” Tieger asked.

“We were certain that Bosnian Serbian forces were sniping against civilians,” Fraser said. “We implored them to stop…these discussions at the corps [level] had a positive effect for a while, but it was only a temporary effect.”

He said that when he talked to Stanislav Galic, who commanded the Sarajevo Romanja Corps until August 1994, the general would at first deny that his army was sniping at civilians “but over the course of the conversation he would acknowledge it”.

Galic was subsequently sentenced to life in prison by tribunal judges for his role in the sniping and shelling campaign.

“He would blame the other side for this action,” said Fraser, adding that after these meetings the situation would get better, albeit for a short amount of time.

“It was a constant cycle of the situation getting worse, getting a little better, then getting worse again,” he continued.

Like several other witnesses, Fraser said that the Bosnian Serb army prevented humanitarian convoys from reaching civilians.

“They were very good at determining how much aid was coming into the city,” Fraser said. “They regularly controlled that by slowing down or stopping convoys. At one point we had no fresh food for 20 days.”

Tieger noted that Fraser had previously stated that Sarajevo residents were “visibly traumatised” and that they “expressed uncertainty and terror [at] never knowing what was going to happen next”.

“In respect of what caused this terror, what was it?” Tieger asked.

“This terror was the result of a number of different factors,” Fraser responded. “The city was at siege. Humanitarian aid was being controlled by the Serbs. [Civilians] were being shelled and sniped at.

“Residents never knew what would happen to them when they walked outside the door. They had to take their lives in their own hands.”

When it was Karadzic’s turn to cross-examine Fraser, he asked about UN participation in an alleged black marketeering ring. The witness replied that there was an investigation at the time in relation to this matter.

“You would agree that Serbs had reasons for increased caution and control of everything coming into Sarajevo in light of this information?” Karadzic asked.

“I would not agree that Serbs had to have increased control,” Fraser replied. “The Serbs should have [had]… respect for the UN mandate for freedom of movement.”

“In your opinion, freedom of movement - especially for humanitarian convoys - would that imply absence of control?” Karadzic asked.

“No,” Fraser said. “There has to be an element of control, but not to the point of restricting humanitarian convoys from reaching their destination.”

Fraser noted that “we weren’t asking for permission. We were informing the Serbs that supplies were coming in for humanitarian purposes and proper measures should be taken to make sure they got there”, he continued.

In regards to sniping in Sarajevo, Karadzic asked if Galic “ever admitted there was sniper action against civilians”.

“It seemed very clear in the notes from that meeting that he was acknowledging that,” Fraser said.

As he has done on numerous occasions during the trial, Karadzic claimed that Bosnian government forces sniped at their own people.

“Do you agree that Muslims filmed such attacks on children in order to broadcast them on TV and blemish the Serbs?”Karadzic asked.

“I’ve heard those stories,” Fraser said. “It would have come from our UN soldiers and I seem to recall that a protest was lodged against Muslims for these types of actions.”

“Had you ever heard of any information to the effect that Serbs would shoot at their own civilians to lay blame on the other side?” Karadzic asked.

“I did not ever recall that,” Fraser said.

When Karadzic suggested that Bosnian government forces had “a sort of military policy” in targeting their own people, Fraser said he wouldn’t characterise it that way.

“Our assessment was that Muslim authorities were interested in keeping the UN engaged in operations, and by extension the international community,” Fraser said.

“I did say [previously] that Muslims were guilty of targeting civilians and we protested against them, as we did with the Serbs,” he continued.

Also testifying this week was Bogdan Vidovic, a forensic technician with the Bosnian government security services centre.

The trial will continue next week.

Rachel Irwin is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.